Starbound: A Space Odyssey 47 The Floran Colony 3

John looked around and was impressed by Penguin Pete's work. The whole s.h.i.+p looked like it just came out of a shop. The metals were and the paint job was also very simplistic, just the way he liked it.

The interior of the s.h.i.+p was completely painted in white with some black stripes.

"Wow!" Lenny exclaimed as his expression brightened. "This s.h.i.+p is amazing, better than mine."

"As yer may have noticed, I took the liberty to change a bit of the rooms, I exchanged the Prison Cells for a standard Crew's Quarters. It can accommodate 2 people." Penguin Pete said.

"Why did you got rid of the Prison Cells?" John wasn't mad about it. Even though John barely knew him, Penguin Pete had already proven himself of being trustworthy.

"Simply because there are no more Terrene Protectorate Outposts and Prisons... These facilities had been overtaken by Letheia Corporation, Black Star Syndicate, Nova Rebellion, and the Dreadwing Pirates. These are the organizations that had started to make bigger movements now that the Terrene Protectorate is gone. In other words, yer have no place to send prisoners."

"Oh... It makes sense."

"As for the outside hull, I made it usin' t.i.tanium and Tungsten. Since t.i.tanium is way too expensive to make the whole hull made of it, I decided that this metal would only be used at the few important places of the s.h.i.+p, like the FTL Warp Drive engine, Artificial Gravity Generator, and the Life Support System. As for the rest of the outside hull, it was made completely by Tungsten. With that bein' said, your s.h.i.+p is basically a giant Tier 2 Armor." Penguin Pete proudly said.

"d.a.m.n." Lenny looked surprised. "That's good stuff... My s.h.i.+p is only made using Steel."

"Of course, most s.h.i.+ps would be built using only Steel for the hull. There was almost no reason to spend more in an expensive hull anyway. There were no s.p.a.ce battles that would involve the main s.h.i.+ps, most of the battles were done using the Mechs in the outside. But now that the Terrene Protectorate's law is gone you can imagine what is goin' to happen in the future. Wars.h.i.+ps and prohibited weaponry are going to start to appear more and more often as time pa.s.ses. It's better to be prepared than to suffer later on."

"Thanks... Really..." John was touched. To make such a giant s.h.i.+p made of Tungsten and t.i.tanium would be very, very expensive, and Penguin Pete had done it for John without asking for anything. This, coupled with the fact that John only asked him to repair the s.h.i.+p, but he basically made a completely new s.h.i.+p. John couldn't even imagine how expensive it was to make this much.

"Well..." Penguin Pete embarra.s.sedly scratched his nose. "Just... Just try not to die around there kid, or Esther might get depressed." He walked back to the teleporter. "That's all I had to say to you, lad. Be careful out there..." He activated the teleporter and disappeared.

"Okay..." Said Lenny, "I'm going to the Crew's Quarters take a nap. Wake me up if you need something." He left as soon as he finished speaking.

John helplessly shook his head.

He decided to go to the c.o.c.kpit. Once he entered there, the first thing he did was to check the Fuel Hatch.

Once he looked at the screen on the console he saw that the Fuel Hatch was half full.

[He even filled a little of the Fuel Hatch...] John was very thankful of Penguin Pete's kindness.

John took out the Data Chip that Itsuki gave to him and inserted into the Navigation Console.

"Loading Data Chip..." John heard the emotionless voice of S.A.I.L once again. It had been a while.

"Loading Completed... All information had been downloaded, you are free to use the Navigation Console now, Protector."

John sat on the Captain's chair and rested his hands on the console in front of him.

[Now... My adventure is finally beginning...] His fingers flew across the touch screen and soon enough the s.h.i.+p's engine had started to make rumbling noises.

He looked at the planet that he met up with Lenny in the Navigate Console, Planet Gamma 213-4, and saved the coordinates of the planet.

John saw that the s.h.i.+p was slowly starting to move forward.

He could hear the sound of the engines and the thrusters going full force.

[I need to find a Floran Colony...] John remembered the mission Esther gave him. [Florans often live in... Gentle Star Systems, Forest Planets, if I'm not wrong...]

The universe is divided in 5 different types of Star Systems, each has their own differences, Threat Levels and environmental hazards.

The Gentle Star System is the most basic and also the most abundant ones. The Star of this Systems have a white color and don't have any type of environmental hazard. The planets that orbit these stars can only be of Forest, Garden or Desert biomes, and they often have a Threat Level 2.

A Threat Level of a planet represent how dangerous is the planet, what materials it has, and also warn the explorer what kind of Armor and Weaponry you would need to use in this specific planets.

For example, a Threat Level 2 planet have the metal Tungsten in their Geological Composition, and it also shows that the most advisable Armor and Weaponry you should use in the planet is also from Tier 2.

John looked around the Gentle Star System he currently was.

After navigating through the console he soon found that there was a Forest Biome Planet in the Star System. He activated the autopilot at the coordinates of the planet.

He decided to not use the FTL Warp Drive since it would only take 2 days to get to the planet. Erchius Fuel Liquid was very expensive it was for the best to not use it too much.

The s.h.i.+p started to gain speed at move faster toward the planet.

After seeing he was done with his job in the c.o.c.kpit, John stood up and went to the Crafting Room.

[Okay... Now I need to smelt those ores that I took from the Mine in that planet.] John took the ores that he found in the Mine that he met Lenny, and threw the ores in the Atomic Furnace.

[Hmm... It says that it's going to be done in 2 hours...] John looked at the timer on top of the Atomic Furnace.

John looked around the room. [Now... What next?]